I am insanity
by Sacred Immortal
Summary: Ryou gets brainwashed to believe he’s a girl! and now Malik and his newfound friend endeavour to maintain his ‘normalness’ in the public eye. MalikxRyou in later chapters.
1. Merely an introduction

A:N/ Ok, if anyone's inquiring about the sudden shift in moods throughout the chapters, it's because I've decided to change the whole storyline of this as it went. You see…it started to be as an angst/horror fic, then I decided to make it a humour/romance fic but I couldn't be bothered to rewrite the whole thing. A drastic change indeed…

And by the way, yes, this is _meant _to be humour…but I daresay quite a few Ryou fangirls won't find it so! Insane and amused laugh Anyway…yes, I've also decided to now make this my first official Yaoi fic!! beams Though the yaoi-ness isn't going to sink in until later chapters…

Ok, this introduction's kinda boring and doesn't contribute much to the storyline, so you can skip it and still understand stuff.

It's just basically how the OC comes in and stuff…

This fic is dedicated to Krystal, Hiruni and Shaz! Heheh…

The darkness hugged her tightly and teased her eyes. A tiny speck of light from the streetlight was the only thing stopping her from being in complete darkness. Footsteps echoed from behind her. She quickly whipped around, but the direction of the sound stopped, and started again from her back. She was about to turn around and face the sound again, but suddenly the footsteps came from all around her, confusing her. In front of her, a silhouetted figure formed. It reached out a hand, blazing with a warm red aura. The figure somehow made her feel safe, even though she had no idea who or what it was. All while this was happening, the mysterious footsteps continued to ring out louder than ever from every possible direction.

Suddenly it happened. Her mind just collapsed, gave way. The darkness swirled round and round, the light wasn't light anymore, and she wasn't sure if the sound of the footsteps she was hearing was sound. She felt dizzy and tired, yet awake, and stood motionless as her world around her mutated wildly. Suddenly the craziness dug its way into her core. A wave of unseen pain attacked her, and she found herself screaming, screaming with insanity. Her head felt like it was going to erupt. She clutched it to suppress the pressure, but her touch didn't feel like touch. She didn't know what anything was anymore. As traumatizing as it was, she knew all to well that this was how it was like to be eaten up by insanity.

Trying hard to fight against it, she focused her eyes ahead into the nothingness. What she saw didn't make sense to her; it was dark, pitch black, yet it was bright; completely blinding. It was plain, yet speckled and dusted with the most peculiar colours she had never seen before. They weren't blue, red, green, or any of the other colours she had seen, in fact, she weren't even sure if they were colours. But if they weren't colours, what were they?

So, this is what insanity looked like. She stopped screaming, but somehow she was still screaming all the same. Another surge of emptiness hit her straight in the stomach, and she was rendered breathless, gasping for air, screams ringing in her ears.

Suddenly these unbearable images vaporised in a flash, and Lei found herself jerked upright in her bed, drenched in sticky sweat, her eyes wide and mouth open, gasping for air. She sat stunned for a few seconds, her mind blank with fear as she tried to regain her consciousness. _It was just a dream_, she thought, as the visions and feelings of the dream replayed in her mind.

"…Just a dream," she hissed softly, trying to reassure herself, however she could hardly hear herself over the sound of her heart pounding loudly in her ears. She turned her head and looked at her clock to distract herself. Bright red numbers displayed 6: 57am against a black backdrop. Lei sighed as she rested her head in her hands and rubbed her face awake. It was a bit early to wake up from her planned 7:30, but after that dream, Lei doubted she'd be able to get to sleep again, and if she did, she'd probably oversleep anyway.

She sighed as she turned and lifted her legs off the bed and over the side. She looked at her room. It looked different somehow, the colours seemed more exaggerated, or maybe it just seemed bigger. Lei ignored this; she was use to things like this happening to her. She had a strange mind, and a vulnerable mental health.

All of a sudden, a sharp, high-pitched ring screamed from behind her, making Lei jump. For a few seconds, she thrashed about frantically trying to figure what it was that had startled the clam silence, but after she calmed down, she realised it was her alarm clock warning her that it was now 7:00. Lei threw a hand on top of it to shut it up, before staring ahead and wondering why she had set it so early.

A groan escaped her lips as she remembered why she had ordered her alarm clock to ring prior to its usual time: it was to be her first day at Domino High.

Lei had recently moved to Domino with her family, leaving her past life and friends behind. Lei didn't mind leaving them, in fact, she was quite glad she had left. As good as they were to her, she knew they thought she was weird. She personally couldn't blame them. To put it in a nutshell, it was safe to say that Lei was insane. Her mind worked strangely: one day, everything would be fine, the next she would be subjected to hallucinations, paranoia, fainting spells, heavy feelings of anxiety over nothing, and various other unexplainable acts. Sometimes it would be that she saw everything differently, slightly magnified or warped, or sometimes she would just break out in a confounding fit of screaming. It wasn't fun, or funny, as some kid once had said. It was painful. And the insecurity Lei felt each time she fell into insanity's grips just helped it grow more and more, poisoning her already battered mind.

It all started when Lei was about twelve, when she was walking along a newly constructed brick wall that was not yet completed. Lei didn't know that though, and she slipped on a loose brick and fell off, hitting a part of her head hard. The hit rendered her unconscious, but it did a lot more than that.

Lei sometimes found it hard to cope with her insanity, but tried her best to hide it from the others. She usually did a good job off it, trying to overcome and ignore her fits of dizziness and pretending that she was stable, but sometimes it was just too strong, and it would just all lash out. Her friends understood this, or at least, acted like they understood, but Lei knew deep inside they were afraid of her, afraid that her insanity was contagious, and indeed, it was.

Many people had left her because they felt that they would become like her: purely insane. In fact, everyone who got extremely close to her at one time had slipped into light insanity. All except for her parents, who weren't that exposed to it, as Lei somehow felt a lot more secure when she was at home.

Now, by going to this new school, Lei could start a new. Not that she'd expect her insanity to be cured; it was just she hoped that someone would understand for once, instead of being afraid. She didn't have high hopes, yet she didn't have no hope either.

With a final tried yawn, Lei bounced off her bed, pulled up the blinds, and searched for her new school uniform. Her head swirled and zoomed in and out as she searched, but she ignored it. Finally, she found it tucked under some of her other clothes. Lei wasn't a neat person, as neatness was the least of her worries.

She frowned in disapproval as she stared at the pink shirt that went with the blue skirt; a girly colour combination she would never have worn on her own will. Nevertheless, she had no choice, she reminded herself as she lazily slipped it on.

Lei fastened the button of her skirt and stepped back, looking at herself in her full-length mirror. Her sleepy blue-grey eyes stared back at her as they saw herself dressed in the new school uniform. Her black, layered hair messily rested over her back and shoulders, looking frayed and wild from a whole night of tossing and turning. She reached for a brush and ran it through the strands, trying her best to tame it. Soon it became much neater, and Lei scooped it up into a short ponytail before securing it with a plain black band.

Her school uniform hugged around her reasonably thin frame, making her look like a typical schoolgirl. It looked half ok after all, she guessed as she slipped over to the bathroom. Her mind throbbed gently as she walked into the room adorned with new pearl-white tiles. Her mother was an architect and was quite fascinated by designing the house, and recently had the bathroom re-decorated. Lei grabbed her toothbrush and hastily brushed her teeth and washed her face, dismissing the idea of a shower.

Suddenly her mother's voice echoed up the hall

"Yenalei!" She yelled, "Are you awake yet?"

"Yes!" Lei yelled back with a sigh. Her parents and relatives were the only ones who called her by that name, Yenalei. All her friends and others called her either Yen Lei or Lei. It was a name she had thought of in year six and adopted the following year when she left for high school, when her insanity started. It was suppose to be Chinese for 'tear', something that Lei thought she could strongly relate with even though she wasn't Chinese. She may have had a bit of Japanese blood in her, but most of her was American.

Soon Lei had consumed her breakfast and ran back to her room to retrieve her schoolbag that she had packed the previous night. Lifting one strap over her shoulder, she slowly bounced down the stairs into the living room, the common feeling of anxiety accumulating in her stomach.

Sooner than she had hoped, she felt the car pull up at the front of Domino High, and Lei slipped out of quickly. She slung her bag on her shoulder as she slammed the door shut firmly and traced the path to the school. She stared down at her watch. It was 8:15, something that told her that the bell should be going soon, as Domino High started a lot earlier than her previous school. Sure enough, seconds later a shrill ring let itself loose through the school and there was a rush of students to get to the assembly area.

Lei, however, ignored the crowd and found her way to the office. She walked up to the counter and rested her arms on it, sticking her head in the open glass window. A woman caught her eye and dropped the pen she was scribbling with. Lei smelt heavy perfume radiating off her as she approached, making her feel slightly faint.

_Not now…_ she told herself in fear of another dizzy attack. Still, she stared up at the woman who beamed a toothy smile at her

"May I help you?" she asked. Lei returned her smile

"Yes, I'm a new student enrolling this year," Lei said. The woman turned her eyes to the computer screen that sat next to her

"Your year?" she asked

"Ten," Lei replied

"Name?" the woman asked as she typed in the detail Lei had just supplied her with

"Um…Yenalei Shouru," Lei said as the woman continued to type

"Very well," she said as she left the computer and filed through a few papers on her desk before drawing out a solitary piece of paper

"Here's your timetable," she said with a smile. Lei took it with reluctant fingers and studied it

"Your first class is in room 7, which is just around the corner there," the lady said pointing as she saw Lei's perplexed expression

"Oh, thanks!" Lei said as she walked out casually.

Soon Lei found herself amongst a crowded sea of students brimming with first day of school spirit.

Look behind you she heard a voice say. Lei whipped around, but none of the students met her eye. Damn, the voices, they're back. Lei thought as she continued to flow down the river of students, all laughing at each other as they made their way to their classes. Laughing at her. No, not me Lei thought as she reassured her sanity. 

Soon Lei found herself at the foot of the classroom the woman had directed to her and stepped through the door into a classroom full of fellow year 10 students, all chatting away. The teacher, a tall, thin male with close cut brown hair almost immediately saw her as she entered

"Ah, you must be the new student, Yenalei, right?" He asked her

"Yes," Lei replied. The teacher smiled

"I'm Mr. Kelito," he said with a smile, without moving from his spot in front of the blackboard, "Just take a seat somewhere and I'll start the class shortly," he added. Lei smiled, even though she still felt foreign. She turned and scanned the class for a free seat. She found one next to a brunette girl with hair just above her shoulders cut quite squarely and clean.

Lei drew a seat and plonked herself onto it, throwing her bag onto the desk carelessly. She begun to unpack, hearing the voice of the girl as she conversed with three other guys seated in front of them

"Hi there!" a voice sung out to her that almost made her jump. Lei whipped around and saw the brunette had torn away from her conversation and was now smiling at her

"You're new aren't you?" she asked. Lei nodded

"That's great!" she said happily. Lei personally didn't know what she was so excited about

"Welcome to Domino high! You'll like it here, my name's Tea Gardner," she said bouncily. Lei returned her smile

"Well, my name's Lei," she said, feeling sightly odd about this stereotypical introduction.

Tea looked as if she was about to say something when the teacher paced in front of the blackboard importantly

"Ok, that will do for now," he said as he held up a hand before dropping it slowly

"I'll now call out the roll. Answer clearly when I call you name." He said before holding out a clipboard an arms length away

"Kitty Acely," he announced in a clear voice

"Here!" pipped a girl's voice from the other end of the classroom. Mr Kelito continued to call out the names in the same manner, motioning his hand in a tick or a cross as each person sung out their voice of existence

"Tea Gardener,"

"Here!" Tea said happily

"Yenalei Shouru," My Kelito said, marking Lei's queue to speak

"Here, but please call me Lei," Lei said quickly. The teacher hesitated

"Alright," he said, before writing something down on the roll. Lei assumed it was just a reminder or something. Mr Kelito took the pen off the paper and continued to read out names

"Yugi Moto,"

"Here," a quite voice that came from in front of Lei called. Lei's eyes traced the direction of the sound to find a small, spiky haired boy sitting next to a blonde and another boy with dark brown hair, spiked up in a high cone; the most amusing way Lei had ever seen.. Mr Kelito said another few names before he replied

"Tristen Taylor,"

"Here," the cone-headed boy said. Another few names were called and answered back like an echo

"Joey Wheeler,"

"'ere," The Blonde one said lazily with what sounded like a new yorkish accent. Soon Mr Kelito had finished scanning the class for the ones present and the ones that were not, and folded the roll over before throwing on his desk

"Welcome to your first English class," he said importantly, "Before we get started, most of you should know my standards by now, and that I'm not going to take ANY bludging in my class!" He seemed a lot stricter than Lei had first expected.

She soon learnt that he was as good as his word. Throughout the whole lesson, Lei never had once second of a chance to strike up a conversation with anyone, even Tea who sat right next to her. Mr Kelito constantly kept the class busy with comprehensions and tasks, hawking them carefully while they worked and snapping at anyone who dared to make a sound.

Soon the bell rang and Lei found her head straining to keep up with the swarm of words attacking her mind. With a gasp she gasped and jammed her sheets into her book carelessly before slamming it shut. Rasing from her seat, she grabbed her bad and threw it on the desk before ripping the zipper open and stuffing her book and pencil case in

"Come with us during recess," Tea offered

"Yeah, come join us!" the little boy, Yugi, said. Lei wasn't quite sure

"…But…" Lei hesitated. She wasn't sure if it was a good idea to make friends so quickly, but then she thought that it would be best for them not to know about her insanity until it was too late.

"So, tell us a bit about yourself!" Tea said. She seemed quite talkative. Lei hesitated

"Um…" she began, but stopped

"Like, um, what kind of sports do you play?" Tristen asked, seeing Lei struggling to get off the mark. This didn't help her much

"Well…I, use to be a swimmer," Lei said nervously

"Use to?" Yugi asked

"What happened?" Joey followed. Lei sighed; she knew that if they were to end up as her friends, they'd have to find out eventually anyway. She took a seat on a fallen tree trunk next to Joey

"It's hard to explain," Lei said

"Spill," Joey mumbled as he dipped his hands into his bag. Lei sighed before scrunching up her eyes and turning away. Before she could stop herself, she went on about her story of insanity, how it all started, what happened, and what it all was. The story took no longer than five minutes, but all the time Lei could feel her newfound friends eye her in disbelief

"…So that's why I quit swimming. Once it got so bad I seriously almost drowned myself. It was horrible; I couldn't even tell which way was up or down, or what to breath: air or water" she said as a supporting statement to conclude her explanation.

There was a silence that Lei wished would go away. Soon she couldn't take it. Lei glimpsed at everyone. They looked speechless

"That's quite interesting!" Yugi finally said optimistically. Lei tried to smile, but failed

"It's such a burden. I don't know what I can do when I go insane, I can't control myself at all," she said, picking at some grass bellow her. Yugi frowned

"I wish I could do something to help," he said sympathetically as Lei's recount of her insanity ran through his mind

"Don't worry, I guess I'm use to it," Lei said casually, not wanting to seem like an attention-seeker

"Well, thanks for tellin' us Lei," Joey said as he wolfed down the last of his recess

"Yeah, so we'll know what to look out for," said Tea, now sounding like the protective leader of the group. Suddenly before anyone could get another word out, the bell rang to signalise the end of recess

"We have History next," Tea said, more to herself than anyone as all five of them packed. Yugi pulled out his timetable, which the others knew would be exactly the same as theirs, and motioned them towards room 21.

Lei found the rest of the day easier to cope with, now that she had people to call friends. The rest of the day sailed past without Lei being forced to execute any acts of insanity, which she was quite relieved about. Things turned out much better than Lei had expected, for the first day anyway. Her friends didn't seem one bit scared about her disability, yet they didn't really seem to understand it either.

_Oh well._ Lei thought. _It was just the beginning._

The loud bell ran itself through the school for the last time that day, and the rumble of excited students eager to get back home was compressed inside the corridors. Lei smiled as she packed her bag for the last time

"So Lei, how are you going to get home?" Tea asked. Lei opened her mouth to say that her mother was picking her up, but her subconsciousness told her something wasn't right. Lei lightly grimaced as she remembered that her mother gave her the instruction to walk home that day, as she had some kind of business to deal with

"I'm walking home today," Lei finally replied, subconsciously retracing her route that was told to her the other day

"Oh, damn," Tea said, "I was wondering if you could've come to the shops with us"

"Yeah, it'll be great if you could come Lei!" said Joey

"Just us five!" added Tristen. Lei bit her lip lightly with guilt, before a small voice interrupted

"Wait guys, I can't come either," Yugi suddenly said, looking up from his bag

"Huh?" Tea exclaimed, looking a bit disappointed

"My Grandpa asked me to take some packages from the post office for him, you know, the new cards he ordered. I'm so sorry…but, I just remembered it then" said Yugi, his large eyes wide with guilt

"What?!" Joey cried, looking shocked, "But Yugg, ya have to come!"

"Yeah, you know, it wouldn't be the same," Tristen said as he threw his bag over his broad shoulders. Yugi shook his head

"Sorry, but Grandpa said it was really important and I understand," he said as he lightly propped his bag on his back

"Damn, oh well. Thanks for tellin' us by the way," Joey joked as the five of the strode out of the now empty classroom

"Sorry," Yugi said again. The five of the walked slowly out to the entrance of the school, conversing casually as they went

"Well, guess we'll see you tomorrow then," Tea said to Yugi and Lei

"Yeah, bye," Yugi replied as everyone waved goodbye to him

"Bye Lei!" the group sung out to their new friend. Lei smiled and waved goodbye, when suddenly a dark aura struck her.

Her head felt like it was expanding, and her vision was growing darker. With a small gasp she quickly turned around and power walked away, eager to get away from her friends before the insanity attacked her again.

It was after her, the darkness, it wanted her: dead.

_Run! Run! Run NOW!_ A voice screamed at her inside her head. Lei hesitated, but picked up her pace, trying to get as far away from everyone as possible. She heard a ring start up in her ears, soft at first, so soft she could hardly hear, but soon it was nothing less than a scream.

Lei cupped a hand to her forehead, trying to ignore it. She felt herself getting dizzy and her vision becoming garbled: the darkness was taking over her.

_RUN LEI! RUN! Run before it's too late!_ The voice commanded her. Lei, taking no chances, clasped her hands around her ears and started to run blindly as fast as her body would allow her.

_I can't! I can't run! _She told the voice _I don't know where to go! I can't escape!_

There was no reply. Lei felt tears coming to her eyes as she felt her feet pounding on the concrete path, causing an occasional jolt in the screaming. Lei looked ahead to see where she was going, and was relieved to find she had somehow kept to her homeward route. The screaming continued in her mind. Lei shut her eyes and saw darkness engulfing darkness. She quickly opened then again in a flash

_I can't escape! Where do I go? There's nowhere to hide!_ She thought frantically as she scanned the area with her eyes to find somewhere to take refuge

_The darkness_ The voice replied as Lei saw herself heading into a dark alleyway that was still part of her route __

_Hide in the darkness. _It said.

Lei did not see the logic in hiding from darkness in darkness, but obeyed the voice. She sped into the dark alleyway, turning to avoid a lost shopping trolley as she entered. As soon as she ran in, her legs stopped running. A scream escaped her lips as she felt herself go numb and collapse onto the cold asphalt, struggling for breath. Her heart beat fiercely against her chest as she lay there, waiting for the insanity to forsake her.

Slowly, the screaming diminished and her stability returned. Lei sighed a heavy sigh as she could feel herself coming back.

Lei rolled over and sat herself up. She could feel the sweat dripping over her and her hands, flat on the ground, cold and numb. The darkness was somehow calming to her, yet unnerving. It was good to know that Lei would be home soon, home, away from insanity.

She knew it was no good just sitting there; she had to get going. Lei got to her feet and dusted herself off, thanking the voice for directing her. She put her bag on her back again and began to make her way out of the alleyway, her head feeling much lighter.

Suddenly, just as Lei was beginning to feel calm again, something grabbed her by the shoulders. Lei, still slightly tense, let out her loudest scream before thinking of what she was doing. The thing that grabbed her did not hesitate; it twisted her around and with amazing force threw her away. Before Lei could even finish screaming, she felt a gigantic thud against her back and found herself wincing in pain against a wall. Something trailed down her lip: blood. She must have bitten herself or something on the impact, which was subdued by her bag, but nevertheless, it still hurt.

Lei immediately panicked. This was not insanity; even Lei knew this was real. Though she was almost immobilised by the pain in her back, she forced her head up to see her attacker. The sight made Lei scream again.

A:N/ Ok, well I've decided to completely change the story, as I said before. Hehe…I shall now have a bit of fun toying with things… …hehe. Anyway, please review! Flame! Say hi! Tell me that you exist! I don't care! Just do something!!!!! 


	2. she's so pretty!

**A:N/** Ok, well I've decided to completely change the story, as I said before. Hehe…I shall now have a bit of fun toying with things…_^…hehe. Anyway, please review! Flame! Say hi! Tell me that you exist! I don't care! Just do something!!!!!  

**Chapter2! Ay!**

A buff man, heavily tanned with a rough bushy beard, stood in front of her, bearing a thick silver knife that looked deadly sharp. His hair was dark and thin, spiralling down his head almost like dried tendrils; only their texture was like snakeskin, just like his face. 

Lei looked at him in disbelief. All her life she had to fight with insanity, and she struggled to win against that, but now, a madman with a knife? There was no way she could survive. The man's tight muscles tensed as he raised the knife with a clenched fist to Lei's face

"Gimme ya money," he boomed. He had a slurring voice and to Lei, he didn't sound very literate 

"I…don't have any," Lei said stupidly, though it was the truth. The man grunted

"Then you'll have to pay me," he said, flashing stained teeth that were odd with disposition 

"What?" Lei said softly with a shaking voice. The man gave a disgusting grin from the side of his mouth

"Your life," he hissed, as his rough hand reached and found itself clasped around Lei's wrist tightly. Lei gasped, eyes widened with fear, as the man pinned her wrist to the wall and raised his knife

"No! Please, NO!" Lei pleaded breathlessly as she realised what he was going to do to her

"Just…leave me alone! Please!" Things had been going too well for her to die now. The man ignored her and continued to raise the blade. 

Tears of fear and anguish cascaded out of Lei's eyes. She shut them and felt the wetness trickle down her cheeks. This was it? This was all to her life? To be infested with insanity, misunderstood and feared for no reason? And when things were turning ok for her, it would just end like that? It wasn't fair, but Lei was hopeless.

Lei prayed that something would happen, but these prayers were unanswered. Suddenly a splitting pain shot up her arm as the horror of cold metal slicing through flesh was felt on the side of her forearm. Some liquid, which was undoubtedly blood, was felt oozing down her arm and becoming soaked in the material of her uniform, yet it could hardly be felt amongst the screaming pain that tore at Lei's arm. It felt like someone had just ripped her arm open and was now pouring acid into the freshly made wound, burning and stabbing through Lei's consciousness, allowing her to think of nothing else. 

Lei felt tears swell up inside her eyes as she tried to withstand the pain, all while locked in the fear that the man might strike again. But he did not strike again.

Lei opened her eyes carefully and blinked away the tears so she could see what had happened. The attacked had turned his head to face behind him, knife still poised in the air, waiting, as if something was coming. Lei tensed up, wondering what it was the man was waiting for. Before long, she saw it; a faint thud of footsteps could be heard and a shadow emerged from the corner.

The man turned around to face Lei quickly, a scowl so ugly it hurt to look

"Shit…" he growled to himself as he released Lei's bloody arm

"You're lucky I let you go girl," he hissed, baring his discoloured teeth. Lei said nothing, frozen in fear, but with that the man hid his knife and ran from the alleyway. 

As soon as he fled and it was safe to move, Lei let out a gasp and clutched her bleeding arm. She hunched over and brought it in front of her face to inspect the damage, and what she saw almost made her faint. All of her forearm was completely dyed red with a deep gash about 5 centimetres long across the side, oozing fresh red blood from it that trickled down her arm and splashed in tiny, yet plentiful drops on the ground below her.

And then there was the pain. It shot up her arm continuously, sharp and annoying, wanting Lei to just rip her arm off to get rid of it.

"Ow…" she gasped, collapsing onto her knees as she shut her eyes, trying hard to will the pain away with her free hand over the wound in an attempt to slow down the flow. The pain was so intense that Lei had completely forgotten about the person who was coming, the one who made the attacker flee. This didn't occur to her until a voice called out to her, soft and helpful, though the darkness of her eyelids.

"Are you ok?" it asked, followed by a gasp, "Oh dear! You're hurt!" The voice was definitely not a high one, yet it wasn't entirely deep either.

Lie tried hard to look up through the throbbing pain. Ahead of her, a girl was walking briskly towards her with a worried, almost terrified expression on her face. Lei squinted again, focusing hard to ignore the pain as her hand tried even harder to suppress the bleeding but the pain was still sharp

"Oh my!" the girl gasped softly. Lei could now tell because of her voice that she was kneeling down in front of her, inspecting the wound

"I…I don't know what I can do to help you…" the girl whispered, sounding a little hopeless and even scared. Lei realised that she had an English accent, but that thought quickly vaporised, as the pain from the arm made sure she wasn't allow to think 

"Don't worry," Lei managed to choke. There was a slight rustling sound and Lei opened her eyes to find that the girl had produced what looked like a rather large handkerchief from her pocket and was prepared to wrap it around Lei's arm

"I'm sorry…this is all I have," she said as Lei took her bloodstained hand off the cut so she could wrap the material around it

"It's ok," Lei said, trying to sound as composed as possible. The girl carefully draped the makeshift bandage around Lei's arm, wrapping it round and round until there was just enough to tie a loose, yet secure knot at the end

"There," she said, sounding quite proud and satisfied with her job, "It will have to do for now,"

Lei observed her outstretched arm. It looked convincing enough, and the pain had subsided just enough for it to be bearable.

"Thank you so much," Lei said as she looked up to the girl properly for the first time. What she then saw caught her by quite a surprise, and Lei couldn't help but let out a gasp.

Large chocolate brown eyes stared back at her innocently, almost like they were pleading her not to hurt or tease the girl. They reminded her of the eyes of a newborn child, so soft and vulnerable, radiating innocence and peace. These orbs were embedded into a perfectly structured face, with a smooth, pale complexion that almost seemed too delicate and pure to look at, one so fragile it would crumble at the slightest touch. A river of silky lilac, almost white treads of the finest looking hair fell around this face, spearing out at odd yet perfect angles and flowing down just to her shoulder blades. Altogether, she definitely was one of the most beautiful girls Lei had ever seen

"Huh? Is there something wrong?" the girl asked. Lei jerked away

"Uh…no," she said quickly, "By the way, what's your name?"

"Ryou Bakura," She replied, holding out a hand. Lei hesitated; one hand could not move because of the wound, yet the other was heavily stained with blood and it seemed a crime to dirty someone like Ryou's hand. There was a pause.

"Oh…right," Ryou said quickly as she too realised the problem, "Never mind then. By the way, I don't believe I caught your name?"

"I'm Lei," Lei replied quickly. Suddenly Ryou's eyes drifted onto Lei's uniform

"Hey, you go to Domino, do you not?" she asked, her eyes filled with curiosity

"Um…yeah, I'm new," Lei answered. Ryou's eyes seemed to take on a newfound spark

"Wow, I go there too!" she said, "What grade?"

"Ten," This seemed to excite her even more

"Wow, me too!" Ryou exclaimed while still sounding rather civilised, which Lei found quite an unusual characteristic

"Why aren't you in the uniform then?" Lei asked as she lay eyes on her musk jumper and blue jeans

"Oh…I didn't come to school today. I was getting all my equipment," Ryou replied, "But I'm going tomorrow,"

Lei smiled

"Oh, well I'll see you there then hopefully!" she said happily. She felt like she owed Ryou something for helping her, yet she really couldn't do anything. Looking down at her bandages again, she saw that it were still clean, meaning that her wound had probably ceased bleeding, yet it still throbbed. Subconsciously, Lei's focus slipped from the bandages to her wrist, where a silver watch lay strapped comfortably around it. All of a sudden, this made her remember something 

"Oh no!" She suddenly gasped

"What wrong Lei?" Ryou asked calmly. Lei wildly fiddled with the cuffs of her sleeve, careful not to disturb the bandages. As her eyes frantically landed on the thin shinny hands, both her mouth and eyes widened

"I'm going to be late!" Lei yelped

"Ryou, I'm so sorry! I seriously have to go! I just remembered I had to pick my little sister up from her friends place today! If I forget to she'll start crying and she'll take it to my parents and then I'll be doomed! I'm sorry, but I can't afford that to happen!" She raved frantically as she push herself up with her good arm, leaving a faint imprint of a hand in blood on the concrete

"What are you parents going to say about the cut though?" Ryou asked innocently

"They're not usually home until late, so I can avoid them easily by going to bed early," Lei replied, quite pleased at how caring Ryou was

"Oh, that's good then Lei, guess I'll see you at school tomorrow," Ryou replied calmly as he watched the girl speed off out of the alleyway.

Lei continued to run as fast as her legs and lungs would allow her to, though it seemed rather slow. She felt the air rushing past her face and clothes, her feet landing heavily on the concrete path, one arms swaying in time to her legs and the other folded across her chest in order to prevent it from moving, though this all seemed to slow her down. 

After what seemed like forever, Lei reached the gate of her sister's friend's house. She skidded to a stop and almost fell over her feet clumsily, but quickly regained balance, ignoring the painful throbs of her arm. Looking up, she saw just in time, her little sister, Rinell, waiting for her on the veranda of the house, standing with her friend and her mother

"Yenalei!" Rinell cried as she automatically bounded off the veranda and ran towards Lei

"Hey Rinell, sorry I was late," Lei replied as she carefully pushed the gate open

"You're late!" Rinell scolded disapprovingly with her hands on her hips like she did not hear Lei's apology

"I know Rinell, I'm sorry," Lei repeated. Rinell looked like she was about to start pouting when Lei quickly turned to the mother and the child standing at the front door

"Thank you so much Mrs. Lee for taking care of Rinell. I'm so sorry I was late, just got a little caught up," Lei informed with a smile that she hoped was convincing enough. The lady smiled in reply

"It's alright, Rinell was a pleasure to have. Feel free to come over anytime!" she called happily as Lei and Rinell made their way out of the yard

"Bye Amy!" Rinell piped as Lei stopped to open the gate

"Bye Rinell!" a high-pitched voice of a young girl replied. Lei turned around and waited for Rinell to finish waving to her friend, making sure that her bandages were still clean. Soon, Rinell turned away from the house and started to walk, a sign to say that she had finished, so Lei started walking with her. Though there was a second or so of silence, Rinell was quick to start a conversation

"Why were you late?" Rinell asked grumpily. Lei sighed

"Gee, I wasn't that late Riz," she replied. Rinell twisted herself a little to face Lei condemningly 

"Don't call me that!" she shrieked. Lei smirked

"Sorry Riz,"

"Don't!" Rinell whined, long and irritating, "If you want to call me something, call me Rinny, like my friends!"

Lei snickered

"Rinny is such a gay name," she said bluntly. Lei wasn't usually a mean person, yet whenever she was talking to her sister her mood automatically switched to foul, "I'd be shamed to have a sister by that name," 

"It's better than Riz!" Rinell insisted

"No it isn't," Lei snapped back stubbornly "You're all young and stupid so shut up," 

Rinell suddenly screwed up her face, giving the intention that she was about to cry. This sent a sharp jolt of guilt to Lei's head, and she quickly decided to say something to soften her harsh words

"Relax Rinell, it's just a name…if you like it and your friends like it, then I can't do anything about it," Lei turned her head and covered her mouth with a hand

"…unfortunately," she whispered out of the corner of her mouth. Rinell sniffled

"Ok," she said softly. Suddenly Rinell pointed to Lei's arm

"What happened?" she asked curiously

"Oh, it's nothing," Lei said blankly

"Are you hurt?" Rinell asked. 

Lei hesitated. If she didn't tell Rinell the full story she'd be upset and go to her parents to complaint and they would eventually question Lei, hence finding out about her cut, but if she did tell her everything, Rinell would go and tell their parents anyway. Lei scowled in annoyance as she quickly thought of something

"Don't worry Rinell, it's just a cut, nothing life threatening," Lei paused for a few seconds, "…now don't go telling mum or dad, otherwise the dark spirits are going to come out at night and draw your soul out," she said, modelling her face into a serious, solemn expression. 

Rinell's eyes widened in fear as her head bounced up and down obediently 

"I won't Lei, I won't," she promised.

"Good," Lei said, secretly smiling at the fact that children her age were so gullible. At that moment the conversation was cut short as the two approached the gate to their house.

Lei stopped as she picked the lock of the front gate and pushed it open, making sure Rinell flowed and shut the gate behind her. 

She unzipped the front pocket of her bag and fumbled for her keys as they reached the front door. Conveniently, there weren't many other things in the same compartment and Lei quickly felt her fingers fall around cold metal. Pulling her hand out of the bag she stuck the only key threaded into the key ring into the silver lock of the front door and turned it until she heard it click and, with a push, it swung open. Lei then unlocked the large wooden one and threw her body weight at it, making it swing open to reveal the interior of her house.

A familiar aura greeted her as Lei as she stepped in, propping her bag down on the floor, careful not to touch the bandages. Without a delay, Rinell dashed past her as soon as she could and hobbled up the stairs to her room, leaving Lei to lock the door again and to go about with her own things.

Lei took her bag up the stairs to her room and dropped it carefully on the floor. Straightening herself up a little, she looked around half-heartedly and, to her disdain, realised that there was nothing much to do. With a sigh she flopped down onto her bed, stretching her arms out over her head and staring at a blank space on her ceiling.

A hell of a lot of things had happened to her so far: going to a new school, meeting four new friends, five if she counted Ryou, and of course, almost getting killed by some psycho attacker…all in the space of a day. Lei blinked in amazement as she looked back on it. So much had happened to her that it was nothing short of amazing.

Turning onto her side, she unconsciously fiddled with the handkerchief Ryou had given her. It was so nice of her to help her like that…if it wasn't for her, Lei would've probably been dead by now, or at least horrifically wounded, or bleeding uncontrollably. Ryou was definitely one of the most kind-hearted people that Lei had encountered, or so she seemed. There was a certain warmth the girl possessed, and though Lei had probably only known Ryou for not much more than an hour, she felt like she had known her for years.

With another sigh, Lei turned back onto her back and closed her eyes. As odd as it was for her to admit it, a thought seeped into Lei's head, slipping past the guard of her consciousness 

Imagine if Ryou was a male… 

Suddenly Lei jerked awake, shaking her head

"What am I thinking…" she scolded, "I think I've lost a bit too much blood," she sighed as she decided take a small rest for now, to make up for all the energy that she had lost. Closing her eyes, she allowed herself to loosen, but it seemed that she was much more tired than she thought as she slipped into a deep sleep, not waking up until the next morning.

**A:N **

Hehe…well, I had a bit of fun with that!! Yeah…though this storyline's hopefully going to be a bit more interesting I have no idea what I'm going to do with it in the long run so I'm open for ideas! Ryou fangirls, don't get too offended (!!) though flames are accepted as always!


	3. The dark alleyway

Chapter 3

Next morning, Lei's alarm clock woke her up effectively as always, and with a yawn, she tried to shake off the heaviness of sleep

_Wow…I really slept…_she thought, but it was suddenly interrupted by a sharp, almost sickening feeling in her stomach

Oh crap…didn't have dinner last night… 

With that Lei decided to head off to breakfast as soon as possible and if her memory served her correctly, her parents would've already left by now, leaving just her and Rinell in the house. Just she began to shift her body, a sharp, sore pain from her arm reminded why she was trying to avoid her parents in the first place, and, wincing, she carefully brought her bandaged arm around and positioned it away from her so it wouldn't get touched.

As soon as her arm was out of her way, Lei lifted the rest of her body up and got out of bed. Forcing her way to the kitchen, fighting the temptation to return to her warm bed, Lei managed to make herself breakfast and ate it all with just one hand.

"Yenalei!" A shrill yet softy voice called from behind Lei. Lei turned around to face her sister, her eyes still dull with the heavy residue sleep had left on her

"Hey Rinell," Lei said lazily as she stood from the table and quickly sauntered back to her room in an effort to avoid an unwanted conversation with the child.

Soon Lei had finished packing her schoolbag and getting changed into her uniform, and to her surprise, realised that she had another 15 minutes before she needed to depart for school.

Thinking that there would be no point in getting to school earlier, Lei decided to stay at home for a while and change her bandage. It had been completely untouched since Ryou had applied it, and now Lei could see dark stains of dried blood caked in the material.

_I should give the handkerchief back to Ryou…_ Lei decided as she tried to remember where the spare bandages were kept in the house.

Soon she had finished redressing her cut, and had thrown the handkerchief into a basin of water for it to soak while she retied fresh bandages. After she had done this, she checked the time to find that she was just on time to get to school with a few minutes to spare. Taking the saturated piece of cloth out of the red water and rinsing it again a few times. After she wringed it dry, she ran out of the bathroom to grab her bag from her room

"Rinell! We're going NOW!" she called to her sister, which was soon followed by a faint, indistinguishable reply.

"I'm ready sis," Rinell told Lei responsibly as she stood proudly by the door, a tiny pink backpack harnessed to her small form

"Yes," Lei said lazily as she slipped a pair of shoes on and opening the door

"Well, hurry now," she told Rinell as she held the door open for the child before walking out of it herself and closing it behind her.

The walk to school wasn't a long one, or at least, it wouldn't be a long one, but Lei was forced to Detour to Domino primary school to drop Rinell off on days that her parents weren't there to send the two. It didn't really matter much, as the route didn't lengthen too drastically.

Finally reaching the school, Lei waved Rinell goodbye and headed her own way. It didn't take her long to reach Domino High, and as she walked into the school she wondered where she'd go first. Looking down at her watch, she noticed that she had 5 minutes until the bell would go, so she decided to use this time to search for Ryou so she could give him the handkerchief back.

Walking and weaving through crowds of students, she searched the faces of everyone she saw dressed in the pink and blue school uniform for any signs of Ryou, but found nothing. Sighing in defeat, Lei decided to go and find her other friends.

Fortunately this did not take long as Lei coincidentally spotted them at the turn of the head

"Hey everyone!" she called, careful to wave the unbandage hand as she started making her way towards her friends. Yugi was the first to turn around and wave in response

"Hey Lei!" he greeted, his actions bring the groups attention towards her

"Oh hi Lei," Tea said in her usual disgustingly happy manner. Suddenly Yugi pointed down to something, drawing everyone's attention to it. Lei stared down and, to her horror, noticed that he was pointing to her bandages wrapped around her arm

"What happened?" his soft, inquisitive voice asked, turning his round eyes up at Lei. Lei almost felt bad about the lie she was about to commit as she stared back into those orbs, yet she reminded herself that she didn't want anyone to worry about her

"Fell over…cut my arm on…a saw my dad had left out," she lied quickly, hoping that no-one realised her few split seconds of hesitation. Yugi's faced showed slight concern

"Oh…are you ok?" he asked, a trace of sympathy in his voice. Lei nodded almost immediately

"Of course! It's only a scratch!" she lied again. Even if she really did get that cut by falling on a saw, to call it a scratch was definitely nothing short of a lie. Suddenly the bell rang, ending the time for any more questions. With a sigh of relief, Lei dashed to her roll class, which was different to the others. The only one who shared the same roll call as her was Tea, but fortunately for her the brunet had others to hang around.

Locating the room, Lei walked in and searched every face that was connected to a pink and blue uniform for signs of Ryou, but, to her disappointment, found nothing. Sighing, she took an empty and rather isolated seat at the back of the classroom, not wanting to attract any attention.

Suddenly, just as Lei was about to drift off into thought, a familiar voice caught her attention from behind

"Hello Lei," it said, and Lei turned to look at who it was.

"Ryou!" she greeted, smiling as she turned around. Suddenly Lei's smile faded from her face as she saw Ryou standing in front of her, dressed the a smart blue jacket –the boys school uniform

"Ryou…why are you wearing the bo-" Suddenly Lei's mouth dropped open and her eyes widened dramatically as she realised the mistake she had made

"Oh my…you're…you're!" Lei stuttered with a hand trailing weakly over her mouth, her conscience trying hard to holding her back from humiliating herself and Ryou. Ryou tilted his head to a side

"Huh? What is it? Is there something wrong?" he asked, his expression emphasising his gooey eyes

"N-no!" Lei stuttered, moving her hand up to scratch the side of her head innocently as she felt herself start to go red, "Um…you just…look a hell of a lot different when you're wearing your school uniform!" with that she gave a hearty laugh, hoping that Ryou would believe what she had said

Oh hell! I can't believe I thought he was a girl! Lei thought as stared at Ryou's face, analysing it for what it was. Now that she looked at him properly, he did seem to be a guy, and Lei couldn't think how she could have mistaken him for a girl. Perhaps it was too dark, or she was in too much panic to think straight 

"So…how have you been?" she asked in an attempt to cover up her awkwardness. Ryou smiled

"Not bad…not bad. You? How's the arm? Did anyone notice?" he asked sweetly. Lei held her newly bandaged arm

"It's getting better. Doesn't hurt as much. I checked out the wound last night, it wasn't as deep as I thought," Lei put her arm back down, "And only my sister noticed, but she's only 6 so it wouldn't really matter to her what I told her,"

"Well…" Ryou asked in his soft English accent, "What _did_ you end up telling her?".

Lei's lips parted in a sly smile

"…That if she said anything to my parents, the darkness would consume her soul," she said simply, following it with a small laugh. Suddenly she remembered why she wanted to talk to him

"Oh! Right! Ryou…" Lei dipped her hand into her pocket and drew out the handkerchief

"Your handkerchief…" she said, handing it to him. Ryou smiled as he took the cloth in his hands

"Well…thanks Lei!" he said, his face beaming. Lei, still highly embarrassed by her mistake, smiled and nodded. There wasn't much more to it, and that was the only major time in that day Lei managed to talk to Ryou. The rest of the day was spent with her other friends, who where completely oblivious of everything that had happened, which was a good thing, for Lei had a feeling they'd interfere with something if they did.

The final minutes of the school day were ticking down, and Lei found herself in maths, her nose stuck in a thick textbook that she was forced to read. It wasn't the most enlightening thing of the day, but, as Lei had learnt, maths was too much of a bad subject, for the teacher in charge was a lenient, apathetic old bloke whose number one rule was 'if you don't pay attention and fall behind, that's your problem', so bludging was tolerated.

Fiddling with the lid of her pen, Lei watched the seconds tick by and waited for the bell to ring. Soon enough it did, and, with a smile, Lei pushed all the numbers and formulas out of her head and packed her things away.

Soon she bid her friends goodbye and made her way out of the school, daydreaming about whatever her imagination fed her until a voice interrupted her thoughts

"Lei!" she heard a voice cry from behind her again. Turning around, she saw Ryou waving at her. At this she stopped walking and waited for the boy to catch up with her

"Can I walk with you today? I figured we basically take the same route," he requested, sounding just the slightest bit breathless

"Oh sure!" Lei replied, feeling quite glad that she wouldn't have to face the way home alone, especially after the last incident, "I'm going to have to take my sister back from her friends house though," Lei replied

"No problem," Ryou responded, starting up a steady pace beside her.

On they walked, along their identically route, talking about various random topics as they strode.

Suddenly, as they approached the alleyway where they had first met in that grim situation, Lei stopped and froze. The alleyway was dark. Perhaps a little too dark.

"Let…what's wrong?" Ryou asked curiously as he immediately noticed Lei's sudden change in mood.

Lei didn't quite know what it was either. The very look of the alleyway reminded her of the events just the day before…the fear, the pain, the hopelessness…just being at the threshold of the alleyway made her remember the life-like feelings. Lei shook her head

"Nothing Ryou," she said frankly, forcing herself to go ahead. But a few steps into her stride, her legs stopped again. There was something wrong…but Lei couldn't pinpoint what,

_Don't go in there…_a voice suddenly sprang up in her head, so abrupt that it almost made Lei jump

_Don't go…it'll only happen to you again…_it said warningly. Lei's eyebrows involuntarily slanted up in worry

_What…what is it?_ She asked, her heart now beginning to pick up a steady, fast pace

_They want you destroyed…everyone wants you destroyed Lei…they all hate you…_it replied, the haunting words seeming to have an icy edge to them. Ryou continued to fix a worried glance at Lei

"Are you sure Lei? You seem awfully pale all of a sudden…" he commented, not trying at all to hide his concern. Lei quickly pushed the words of the voice back; it was not the first time she had been misled by it.

_I don't believe you!_ She quickly snapped in reply to the voice, before turning to Ryou with a fabricated smile

"I'm fine!" she embellished her act by producing a light laugh, "Just getting a little cold…that's all,"

_You'll regret it…they're out to get you_ the voice replied as soon as she finished. Lei pushed the voice back; she was use to it trying to brainwash her and drive her into the depths of paranoia. Not this time.

Drawing in a deep breath, Lei followed Ryou into the shadows of the alleyway. It seemed a lot darker than it had been yesterday, but only because it was now a little later than it had been. At least, that's what Lei told herself. As much as she kept on telling herself that there was nothing wrong, something within her remained restless. It was almost like they weren't the only ones in the alleyway…

Lei stared at the ground as she walked, for there was nothing much better to stare at, and noticed a large stain on the ground. Though it was almost too dark to even see it altogether, Lei could have sworn it was red. The pool of her own blood from the day before must have dried, and Lei apathetically wondered how long it would stay there before it would go away. Probably a while, for the alleyway looked neglected and abandoned and it would be a wonder if anyone would actually notice it, let alone bother cleaning it off the dull, dirt-stained concrete.

"Sure is getting chilly," Ryou said suddenly, breaking the silence. Lei merely nodded in agreement

"Don't worry, we're almost there," He added, seeing Lei's tenseness. Lei looked ahead of her, checking to see if Ryou was right. A jolt of relief shot through her as she saw that they were indeed, almost out of the alleyway. At least now if some psycho knifeman ambushed them, they could run out in no time.

As soon as Lei allowed a lungful of chilly air into her body it celebrate her relief, a hissing sound slipped through the air behind her, as if the alleyway had read her thoughts and had decided to go against her.

Lei's heart skipped a beat, and her eyes froze wide. Was that real, or was she hearing things? Focusing her ears, she tried to hear it again. Sure enough, it was real. A low, hissing sound like air escaping a puffy cushion surrounded them, followed by a faint sound of footsteps.

Without a delay, Lei grabbed onto Ryou's arm

"Ryou!" She suddenly gasped, before she realised what she was doing. Ryou whipped his head around instantly

"What is it Lei?" he asked tensely, sensing her fear. It took a while for the words to get to Lei's mouth

"T-that noise!" she gasped, not daring herself to turn around and see what it was. Ryou must have just then heard it too, for he seemed to flinch and freeze. His chocolate eyes froze in a wide, frightened stare as he slowly and reluctantly turned his head to look behind Lei's shoulder. For a moment there was no reaction as he stared out into the darkness, but suddenly Ryou's face contorted in fear

"L-Lei!" He barely managed to gasp

"What?" Lei quickly replied, feeling her skin become clammy and numb. She was too afraid to turn around and see for herself, so she picked up her pace a little and focused on the end of the alleyway.

Ryou said nothing, but took her by the shoulders and turned her around. Lei wanted to shut her eyes immediately as she felt herself swing around, but she forced herself to stay strong. For a moment Lei saw nothing, but soon as her eyes grew to the darkness, a strange shadowy figure emerged and became defined enough for Lei to see roughly what it was.

To her part relief, part horror, it was a woman clad in a dark cloak with what looked like a black gown underneath. Though it was hard to see, to Lei it seemed that she was potentially harmless, but the only thing the worried Lei was why a woman dressed so uniquely would be doing out in an abandoned alleyway. Almost as soon as she concluded this though, the woman effectively disproved her theory by letting out an icy, crackling laugh that made Lei's flesh tinge and her heart jolt into a fit of thunderous pounding

"Who are you?" she found herself snapping, trying to sound brave and failing rather miserably. The woman made no movement

"I am Serradise," was all that she said. Her voice, echoing around the alleyway, was surprisingly calm and mellow, after the laugh she gave. Lei hesitated

"W-what do you want?" she said again, this time her voice much softer and more open in her fear. By now Lei and Ryou had forgotten about walking out of the alleyway, and stood rooted to the spot.

Another laugh followed Lei's question, this one more human and haunting

"Don't really want anything, little girl," she commented. Lei scowled internally at this remark, yet didn't have the courage to show it on the outside

"At least…not yet," she added, taking a few steps towards the two. Lei and Ryou instinctively took a step back for everyone she took forward, but somehow it seemed as if they were walking chest-deep in water, for she seemed to manage to advance onto them faster then they had hoped.

Lei's whole body trembled as she watched. Surely, this woman could not want just nothing, the devious grin on her face told her what quite well

"Who are you?" Lei asked again, oblivious to the fact that she had already asked the same question. The woman folded her arms

"I have told you…I am Serradise…a mere wanderer who seeks companionship…" she said, the words running from her lips like poison.

Lies…Lei thought to herself 

"There's no way you can just be a mere wanderer! Tell us! Who are you _really_?!" Lei demanded, her words strong yet shaking with every syllable. To her surprise, and annoyance, the woman ignored her question and turned her attention to Ryou. She smiled wickedly at him, before drawing closer

"Never have I ever seen such a…beautiful boy…" she mumbled, a inch of synthetic peace in her voice

"Shame that your beauty goes to waste. But perhaps I can change that…"

Lei and Ryou stared at her in confusion, both wondering what the mysterious woman was talking about. Suddenly, before there was any time to think deeply about it, Serradise grabbed Ryou by the head, her palm resting on his forehead and her fingers draped around on top of his hair.

Lei gasped

"What are you doing?" she found herself screaming, nerves preventing her from taking further action against the woman, who had now dipped her free hand into her cloak. She then, Lei's surprise, drew out a magnificent golden sceptre that had somehow remained hidden in her black cloak. The sceptre was barely the length of her arm, bejewelled with a golden orb adorned with an eye, its glassy surface shining with what light the dim alleyway could hold. Lei heard Ryou gasp

"That eye-" he began, but quickly became silenced as Serradise pointed the mysterious sceptre at his face

"Enjoy you new life," she hissed, her lips burling into a wicked smile. Ryou tried to look away from her gaze in fear, but Serradise held onto his head strongly. With a long, graceful wave of the sceptre, an eerie light from the eye speared through the darkness, and Lei, completely rooted to the spot in fear, saw Ryou shut his eyes, also to scared to move.

Lei couldn't do anything but shut her eyes, expecting the worse. Who the hell was that woman? What did she want with them? What was she doing to Ryou?!

Suddenly, the aura of the alleyway grew dull and lifeless again. Even though Lei's eyes were closed, she knew that something had happened. Mustering all her courage, Lei peeled her eyes opened and braced herself for the worse.

Trusting her head in Ryou's direction, Lei let out a sigh of relief as she saw Ryou was still standing, a little shaken, but otherwise ok

"Ryou!" she couldn't help herself yelling as she ran a few steps towards him

"You're ok!" she gasped, hoping that she didn't just speak too soon. Ryou turned to her, his chocolate eyes laden with fear

"What…" he began, but words failed him. It didn't matter; Lei understood

"I don't know," she said, her voice trembling, as was the rest of her body

"She…she just disappeared!"

Ryou stared towards the exit of the alleyway

"I know…" he said softly, "What could've happened? I'm sure she would've done something to us…but she just left,"

"Yes…something about that isn't right," Lei responded, also allowing her eyes to drift longingly towards the dimming light of the exit

"Something about that really isn't right," Lei mumbled subconsciously, as a sudden jolt back to reality told her that the way out of this haunted alleyway that she longer for so much was only a few steps away

"…but let's be glad that we made it first!" she said, quickly starting a pace towards the exit. Ryou nodded before following her

"Yeah…" he agreed as soon as he caught up to Lei "Let's not question why and consider ourselves lucky,"

Lei nodded, too tired to speak. Her legs felt like the blood within them had turned to stone and the muscles to jelly, but she still maintained a constant gait.

_I told you so…_ the voice suddenly reprimanded Lei as she walked, her heart pounding. She sighed, she was use to hearing voices from nowhere; it didn't surprise her anymore.

_I'm never walking down that alleyway again…_ Lei throught sternly to herself. Not taking the alleyway home meant going through the streets, which only took a fair 15 minutes longer, something she could live with. Either way, Rinell would be happy that she'd get to spend more time at her friend's house.

Suddenly, the voice spoke again to Lei, so cold and sudden that she almost yelped

_…but they'll still get you._

A:N/ Yay, another chapter done! Well, sorry it took so long…but I guess it's not really my fault…hehehe…

Anyway…

Random thing of the day:

YAMU!!


	4. but i'm a girl

Lei knocked on the hollow, wooden door loudly, waiting for a response. She had promised Ryou the previous day that they'd walk to school together too, as they lived quite close to each other. After a few seconds of silence, Lei heard faint footsteps that gradually became louder as a figure slowly emerged behind the tinted rose glass. Slowly, the blurred form of Ryou's head came into focus as he fiddled with the lock of the door. A small click was heard before the door swung open, to reveal Ryou standing in the doorway with a beaming face

"Lei, you're here!" he piped happily. Lei stepped forward a little and was about to return the smile, when she suddenly sensed that there was something wrong.

Looking at Ryou up and down, Lei's face slowly twisted with perplexity. He was dressed, instead of the blue jacket and pants that Lei was expecting, in a pink shirt with a petite blue bow and a matching blue pleated skirt, the exact thing Lei was wearing.

She blinked a few times and froze in bewilderment, making sure her eyes weren't playing tricks on her.

_Ok…I may be insane…but **this **insane?!_ She thought to herself as she shut her eyes for a good few moments, before opening them again, only to still see Ryou dressed in the girl's attire. Running all the options she could think of for why Ryou would do such a thing through her head, Lei wondered if this was a very bad joke. Suddenly, just as she gave up guessing and was about to ask Ryou why he was dressed like that, a thought flashed across her mind as she remembered the encounter with the mysterious being that previous afternoon.

_flashback_

_"Never have I ever seen such a…beautiful boy…shame that your beauty goes to waste. But perhaps I can change that…"_

_end flashback_

Lei gasped. The blast must have brainwashed Ryou to make him believe that he was a girl, and now he was planning to go to school dressed in the girl's uniform!

For a few odd moments, Lei didn't know whether to laugh or to cry, for the situation was ironically funny, yet she just couldn't let Ryou go to school like that.

Not wanting to even start to imagine the things the students at school would tease him with, Lei impulsively grabbed Ryou by the wrist and dragged him back into his house without a thought.

Though Lei had never been to his house before, it did not take her long to locate his room, as his house was thankfully small and Ryou was an only child. Perhaps it was rude to just barge in like that, and maybe even a little audacious, but all that mattered little to Lei. Still pulling the rather surprised and confused Ryou, Lei managed to drag both of them into his room relentlessly

"Ryou!" she gasped, turning him to face her. She hesitated, not knowing where to start

"You…you can't go to school wearing that!" she snapped as she wildly waved a hand at his clothes. Ryou turned confused eyes to her

"Why not?" he asked simply.

Lei sighed. This was going to be hard…

"Because…you're a boy!" she replied. Ryou tilted his head

"What? No I'm not! I don't know what you're talking about Lei…I'm a girl!" he said in a matter-of-fact way. Lei, her mind hazy and blurred with panic, quickly located Ryou's wardrobe. Forgetting to ask Ryou for permission, she walked over and rummaged through the clothes until she found what she was looking for. She then dug her hands in and drew out Ryou's old, proper uniform and handed it to him solicitously

"This is what you're meant to wear!" she explained rather hopelessly, feeling like she was teaching an infant how to dress.

Ryou frowned, taking the uniform in his hands and analysing it for a few moments before handing it back to Lei

"But…I can't wear this!" he insisted, staring at the dark blue jacket and matching pants

"it's…the boy's school uniform," he concluded, pulling a face of disapproval. Lei looked at him in dismay

"Ryou! How many times do I have to tell you…you _are_ a boy!" she sighed, shoving the clothes back in his arms. Ryou, weakly grasping the clothes Lei had pushed into him, stared at her as if she had just grown a third eye

"Lei…please stop this…I'm a girl and you know it!" he insisted, his eyes turning into confusion. Lei lightly grimaced. How could you not know your true gender? Wasn't it obvious to him whenever he had to go to the toilet or something?! Either way, Lei was too embarrassed to ask about it

"No Ryou! You're a guy inside and out! No matter what you say Ryou, no matter what you think, you're still going to be a guy!" Lei found herself half-screaming, her words becoming more and more desperate as she noticed the time ticking down.

They'd have to get to school soon, Lei suddenly realised in horror.

Ryou stared up at her in confusion

"But Lei…I don't know what you're talking about," he said, his brown eyes fixing onto hers

"Ryou…you're…a guy! Male! Boy! Dude! You know!" Lei cried desperately, but Ryou seemed to still be confused

"…what do you mean? I'm no guy…I'm a girl…" he said simply, as if it were something so obvious. Lei felt like slapping herself over the head –hard.

"Ryou! What's gotten into you?! You're a GUY!" she yelled, her last few words blasting from the depths of her lungs. She almost felt like crying in defeat, but knew she could not stop, even if it meant having to miss a whole day of school

"Listen Ryou, you _have_ to wear this…" she pleaded, motioning to the male uniform. Ryou gave her a disapproving look,

"…for me," Lei added quickly, before Ryou could open his mouth and refuse once and for all. She turned her eyes up to him desperately, giving the illusion that she was on the verge of tears.

Ryou let out a sigh and shrugged slightly

"Ok…I'll have it your way…" he finally said, unfolding the uniform in front of him. Lei held her breath, hardly daring herself to believe she had won

"But…" Ryou said suddenly, dropping the clothes onto his body again, "people will tease me…and…won't I get in trouble for not wearing the proper uniform?"

Lei held back a heavy sigh and a scream of frustration

"If anything happens to you," she said calmly, "Then I'll take full responsibility. It will be OK," Lei found herself trembling as all her patience had been drained form her. Ryou nodded, though Lei could tell his was still unsure

"Ok…" he said with a sigh, before placing the uniform on his bed

"I feel silly," he mumbled as he began to unbutton his pink top. Lei jerked

"Um…I'll be waiting for you outside," she said quickly as she slipped out of the room before he could have time to complain. Delicately closing the door behind her, Lei held her breath. For the moments that the waited, she thought

_What the hell…_ She thought in disbelief _How am I suppose to get us out of this one…_

 For what seemed an age, she heard a soft rustle of clothes as Ryou got changed and, finally, the door clicked and slowly swung open. There, standing with an unsure expression on his face, was Ryou in his normal school uniform looking just as if nothing was wrong. Lei gave a sigh of relief…at least he was ok for today

"Ok, let's go then!" she said in a light tone

"Ok…" Ryou agreed reluctantly, as he slowly dawdled after Lei, who was now making her way out of his house…

A:N Short chapter, I know…but it's the reviewers fault!! (Or rather, the non-reviewers fault…) The lack of reviews I get really discourages me…well, not discourage, but it doesn't make me that motivated knowing that not many people care…

Ok, I'm starting to sound like an attention-seeker now…nevermind!!

Review and you'll all get acknowledgements in the next chapter!! PROMISE!!

P.s It's the holidays now, so perhaps I'll have more time to work on this stuff…


	5. Make up! WOOHOO!

CHAPTER 5!!  
  
Lei and Ryou made it just in time for the bell as they half walked, half ran to school. Lei, who's heart was pounding for more reasons than exhaustion, began to worry about what Ryou might do during class while she was gone. What if he sat with the girls? What if…

Lei suddenly gasped and almost chocked on her saliva.

What if he went to the wrong toilet?!

As they slowed down at arrival to the school, Lei poked Ryou in the arm

"Ryou…promise me you'll go into the boys toilet, alright?" she asked tersely. As soon as the words came out, Lei regretted them straight away.

"What?" Ryou suddenly snapped quite uncharacteristically, "You want me to what?"

For a few moments, Ryou stared at Lei in disbelief, and Lei stared back blankly. She really didn't know how to convey her point in a way that Ryou wouldn't think she was entirely mad

"I said…um…Ryou, you're a boy, ok? And um…you should act like one too! And do the things boys do!" She said quickly. Ryou gave a riveting stare and said nothing for a while

"…Lei…I'm already wearing the wrong school uniform here, and now you want me to go in the boy's toilets? That's…so…wrong!!" He wined in protest, his brow furrowed in disbelief

"Ryou!" Lei hissed, keeping her voice down as a small colony of students walked past

"…you have to! Or else…if you don't…" Lei stopped suddenly.

Though highly comical, the thought of a swarm of terrorised girls screaming and running out of the toilets like they had seen a ghost somehow forced a wince to cross Lei's face

"…You'll regret it…a lot,"

Ryou grumbled despite his usually agreeable personality. Lei didn't blame him…if she was a guy that had been brainwashed, no doubt she wouldn't be taking the situation too well either.

Seeing Ryou did not reply, Lei decided to keep a close eye on him whenever she could, and perhaps ask a few of her other friends to help her.

Now this is where we introduce another character to this epic tale. Tall, lanky, blonde…and an unhelped chick magnet, this of course, was a young male by the name of Malik Ishtar. Lei had met him in her Science class not long ago, and they both struck up a conversation when they found out both of them were friends with Yugi and co. After not long Lei managed to pick up that Malik was, to put it bluntly, madly in love with Ryou, despite the fact that he was a guy. It wasn't too hard to ease out of him, for he seemed quite open about the otherwise controversial matter.

Nevertheless, Lei knew that out of all the people in the whole school, Malik would probably be the one to trust with the issue at hand, especially since she knew he would not poke fun at or show Ryou any prejudice because of his problem. If anything, he'd be the one who'd be the most cool about it.

Lei's mind spun as she wandered down the corridor, strained by all the different way she could have put the problem to Malik, for she knew the way that something is conveyed effected the way one saw it.

Suddenly, Lei caught a glimpse of blonde upon a lanky tan figure whip around the corridor

"Malik!" She cried as she broke into a run. Slowly a head peeped though the corridor, complete with curious lilac eyes. Malik remained silent for a few moments as he recognised Lei

"Lei?"

Lei abruptly stopped when she was a good distance from him

"Malik…" she began, but found it hard to continue from there. What could she say? What if someone was listening? Either way the explanation she had at hand sounded ridiculous…

…you see Malik, yesterday me and Ryou were walking home and got stalked by this freaky woman who pointed some weird thing at Ryou and now he seriously thinks he's a girl…

She just didn't see that working.

"Ok…this is quite…well, sudden, but…" Lei drew in a deep breath, "…to put it in the simplest way possible, Ryou thinks he's a girl and I need your help to assure his well-being," She breathed, before holding her breath as she waited for Malik's response.

Sure enough, it wasn't anything too simple.

Malik squinted at Lei, as if to scrutinise a speck of dirt on her face

"What?" He asked in disbelief, his head shaking in short bursts as Lei mentally grumbled.

"…it's the truth Malik. Me and Ryou…" Lei drew in a deep breath and mustered all her effort and courage

"…we were walking home yesterday and we decided to take a shortcut through an alleyway, but you see…we kinda got stalked by this freaky woman named…Serradise or something, who possessed this weird sceptre thing that had an eye on it that looks like the eye on Ryou's ring and your rod. Anyway, after some bickering, she pointed the sceptre at Ryou and…well, now he's in serious delusion," Lei explained, talking unnecessarily fast.

Malik stood staring at Lei, as if frozen in time. His lilac eyes, usually filled with deviousness, seemed cold and lifeless as he tried to register the fact that, for him, stood too good to be true.

"…so now Ryou thinks he's a girl?" He mimicked in disbelief. His head began to slowly shift from side to side, his mouth hanging open lazily. Lei could do nothing but nod mechanically

"…So," Malik stuttered, his blatant stupefaction evident on his tanned face

"…what am I suppose to do? You know that I…" He trailed off nervously. Lei immediately interjected with fervent nodding

"I know Malik, that's why I'm telling you. I need someone to watch over Ryou and…you know, make sure he does the right things and everything, and I figured that out of everyone, you'd take this the best," Lei paused for effect and bowed her head slightly, setting a look of cheekiness on Malik

"…I can trust you to not…err…take Ryou's state to you advantage…right?"

Malik raised an eyebrow slightly at her in disbelief

"…why would I?" He asked slyly, pushing back a sheet of blonde hair as he spoke. Now it was Lei's turn to raise an eyebrow

"…You tone doesn't make me trust you very much, but just…watch out for him alright? I'm having a feeling keeping Ryou 'normal' to the public isn't going to be easy,"

With that Lei could do nothing but turn around. There wasn't anything left for her to say, or a reason left to linger in Malik's presence

"Alright Lei…I'll do what I can," She heard Malik say behind her as she walked, apprehension tight in her stomach.

The day dragged on and Lei managed to keep her worries at bay. Fortunately for her anxiety, she wasn't in any of Ryou's classes to watch over and worry over him, but sometimes the thoughts couldn't help but slip though Lei's guard. Flicking them away, she was determined not to let them get to her.

After school however, when Lei did not have the need to concentrate anymore, the stress and apprehension seemed to catch up to her, knocking her in the stomach with a wave of nausea. Needing to relieve her stress, she decided to detour to Ryou's house in order to discuss the issues with him. Somehow, the girl did not feel he had enough wisdom for it to be safe for him.

After picking up Rinell, she dropped her sister home and made her way over to Ryou's house, feeling that it was the only way to give herself peace of mind.

After a while of walking along the now familiar route, Lei found herself knocking upon the finely polished wood of Ryou's door.

"Come on Lei! The door's open!" Ryou called from his room as Lei stepped into the house. Weaving her way through the living room, she located the entrance to Ryou's room, blocked off by a plain white door.

Pushing it open, Lei looked in to find Ryou sitting on a small stool, leaning his body towards a full-length mirror. To her horror, between his fingers he held a tube of luscious rose red lipstick, using it to craftily caress his relaxed lips. After he was done making sure every visible inch of his lips were well smothered with redness, he smacked them together and sat back, looking at himself critically.

"Hmm…you know Lei…I don't think rose is my colour. Perhaps if I try this hot pink one I have over here…" He reached over to the neatly aligned lipstick tubes, his hand hovering over them until he finally found what he was looking for.

Lei stood, petrified. What had he done!? It was bad enough he _thought_ he was a girl, but acting like one too?! And to make things worse, his act had to follow the extreme end of the scale. At that point, Lei didn't know whether to laugh or to cry. Sure, the sight of Ryou wearing a lip full of lipstick was funny, but the fact that it screamed out the extent of Lei's problem was enough to bring her to her knees in dread.

"Ryou!!" She suddenly yelled, her hand snatching the intense pink cosmetic out of his reach. Ryou looked at her, surprised

"Wha-Lei? What's wrong?"

The girl's mouth rapidly opened and closed several times. Lei knew what she wanted to say, and she wanted so much to say it, but somehow her collage of words seemed to have gotten tangled and broken whenever they went from brain to throat.

"Ryou! This…this is getting bad!" She huffed, fixing him with a serious stare. Walking up to him, she made sure their eyes locked firmly

"Boys," She breathed, "Do NOT wear make up! Alright?!"

Lei was beginning to feel her frustration break. Her desperation was raging so high it seemed to have overflowed through her mind, causing her to reprimand even someone so innocent as a little Ryou with lipstick smudged over his mouth. Lei raised her hand, clutching onto the tube

"See this?" She yelled firmly, waving the hot pink lipstick in Ryou's confused face

"This is your enemy! Boys do not like lipstick! Boys do not like makeup!! They like cars and planes and weapons and skateboarding and…and…and anything OTHER than makeup!!" Her arms flailed about now, waving swiftly and firmly in tune to her aggravation.

Ryou's gaze drifted softly at Lei and, as she caught the glance, was certain for a moment he was going to cry

"But…" He shyly retorted, "…I'm…not a boy,"

Lei struggled to contain herself. Taking a deep breath, she grabbed one of Ryou's shoulders

"Ryou. I've told you before…you are male by nature. Now…I don't care what you think…no matter what you say, you will still be a boy."

Her eyes darted towards his vast collection of cosmetics

"Where did you get all this makeup from anyway?!" She suddenly inquired. Ryou shrugged

"I just bought it," He answered. Lei's eyes widened so dramatically it appeared that she was trying to pop them out of her sockets

"You WHAT?!" She gasped, staring at Ryou in utter disbelief. Ryou gracefully swung in his stool to face her nonchalantly

"Yeah…this afternoon after school…I had a sudden urge to go shopping so I went and bought it all. It was so cheap! Hey! You know they have this really cool shop next to the supermarket that sells mascara for-"

"RY-OU!" The scream ripped through the room, every second of its worth shaking with rage. Lei scrunched a fist around her hair

"I-you don't…argh!" The frustration was so great it clogged up within her mind, blocking her ability to think straight. It was bad. Someone from school could've easily seen him!

"Don't worry Lei! No-one noticed!" Ryou reassured, "…I got a few looks…but I think it was because they were jealous at how much money I had to spend!"

His tone was so light and happy…fluffed with such pure innocence. Lei sighed and allowed her eyes to roll up to the ceiling. It wasn't his fault he was like this…it wasn't his fault that Lei had to yell at him so.

Looking down to the crinkled carpet, Lei was silent for a few moments

"Ryou…" Her words stopped at that. Her bank of things to say was now empty. She had said all there was to say yet it just seemed to flitter through one ear and out the other, away into the open.

"Just…just…oh I don't know!! Do me a favour, stay away from make up ok?" She pleaded. Ryou shrugged in a rather clueless fashion

"Um…alright I guess," He muttered blandly, looking a little disappointed as his newfound hobby became forbidden.

Lei's exhaustion from her efforts caused her head to droop down. Suddenly, her eyes caught onto her watch and noticed the hour. With a gasp, Lei remembered that she had to arrive home quickly as she had promised to go shopping with her mother. Immediately straightening up, she turned to Ryou

"I'm sorry Ryou! But I promised my mum I'd go shopping with her,"

Ryou's eyes lit up, elated

"REALLY?! Can I come? Oh please Lei!!"

"No," The answer was instant and sure. Spinning around, Lei began to make her way out of the house, briefly apologising to Ryou for her rash behaviours.

The visit surely hadn't done anything to help her anxiety after all, she realised wearily as she wandered down the streets again under the dimming sunlight.

A:N/ Review me pleeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaasssssssssssseeeeeeeeeeeee!!! And...you know what? Because I'm feeling stubborn, i'm not going to write CH6 until i get at least 3 review. Come on people...3!!! It isn't bloody much to ask for! It isn't going to kill you, to cick the little square at the bottom left of this page that says 'submit review' and type something!!!

Lervarscerra: hit Flare...that will do. Now shuddup.

Flare: ...


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